Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) update [Vol. 6, Issue 9 (Nov.-Dec., 2014)]

Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) Update
Volume 6, Issue No. 9 Nov-Dec, 2014

Innovating for Georgia and Georgians
When we collaborate across agencies, we can get more done to serve Georgians. It's that simple. And a spirit of collaboration anchors a new program GTA is introducing.
Through the Georgia Innovation Program, we hope to provide a structure for encouraging cross-agency action and new ways of doing things to address business challenges shared by multiple agencies.
We talked about the program and cross-agency innovation at the annual Strategy Summit for Georgia agencies, held in late October and co-hosted this year by OPB. And we made a good start, thanks to the thoughtful input of summit participants, toward identifying shared opportunities. By summit's end, we had a set of possibilities, in the form of innovation opportunity briefs. Granted, those will need refinement. But using the new innovation program, we will have a channel for cultivating a small number of promising candidates.
So, how do we get to tangible results with tackling shared opportunities? Summit participants who helped create an innovation opportunity brief will now have a chance to confirm their agencies' interest, refine the brief and even recruit other agencies to share the cause. Finalized opportunity briefs will be sought by January 2015, and then evaluated by a new cross-agency innovation committee. Top candidates will be selected and announced, and innovation teams formed subsequently to work toward implementing the innovations. Those shared opportunities will have support in planning, piloting and creating detailed business cases.
You may have questions about the mechanics (still being refined) of the new program. GTA's Joe Coberly will serve as your contact point. Going forward, agencies will have the ability to nominate additional innovation opportunities through your agency strategic planning cycle administered by OPB.
Thanks again to all who joined us for the 2014 Strategy Summit. We're enthusiastic about working with you to think beyond agency borders and to do things in new ways, using proven technology - innovating for the good of Georgia and Georgians. And, we look forward to being able to discuss at next year's summit tangible results of your investments in working across agencies toward common goals.
Please read on for news of national recognition for state of Georgia IT efforts, Office 365 cloud email adoption in the GETS program, ensuring online accessibility, progress with GETS transformation projects, GTA's Service Integration Initiative and more.
Thank you for your ongoing support.

In This Issue
Georgia wins NASCIO honor; earns Aamong Digital States Cloud email service on near horizon for GETS Preparing for improvements to GETS service delivery model Eliminating barriers to access in state websites Georgia government tech innovations honored Briefly... (broadband summit) (SCON) (DR rate card)
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Calvin Rhodes State Chief Information Officer GTA Executive Director

Georgia wins NASCIO honor; earns A- among Digital States
At its annual conference in late September, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) announced winners of its prestigious Annual State IT Recognition Awards. And for the first time, a state of Georgia IT project and its leaders earned one of the awards.
Implementation of an innovative, integrated learning system by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) earned first place in NASCIO's category of Enterprise IT Management. USG Vice Chancellor and CIO Curt Carver accepted the award. GTA submitted the project to NASCIO for the awards competition.
USG's award-winning learning system, GeorgiaVIEW Brightspace (also known as Desire2Learn), offers a central location for accessing 160,000 courses and related materials via personal computer or mobile device. It serves 310,000 students at 28 USG public higher education institutions.
The NASCIO IT Recognition Award came on the heels of Georgia's noteworthy A- grade in the latest Digital States Survey administered by the Center for Digital Government. Georgia also ranked among the top five states in the nation for its technology in support of health and human services.
This year's A-, up from a grade of B in the previous survey, affirms Georgia's leadership position in using technology to support state operations. According to the survey, an A indicates a state is trending sharply upward in its use of technology to support efforts as varied as public safety, education, transportation, agriculture and more.
The Digital States Survey, conducted every two years, benchmarks state governments' use of technology to improve service delivery, increase capacity, change cost structures and reach policy goals.
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Cloud email service on near horizon for GETS
In collaboration with GETS full-service agencies, GTA is preparing to introduce Microsoft Office 365 cloud email service into the GETS program. Transitions to this cloud service will begin as soon as this month and next, continuing agency-by-agency into 2015.
Office 365 cloud email will replace the GETS email service provided by IBM today. With the prospect of moving approximately 40,000 email accounts to Office 365, the migration promises to be challenging. Vendor partner Microsoft has deep experience and brings extensive knowhow to the project, set to begin with a pilot move at GTA.
Adoption of cloud email in GETS can be a springboard to other Office 365 cloud services for GETS customers. At each agency's discretion and based on business needs, other Office 365 services (e.g., cloud storage, text messaging, cloud-based SharePoint) can be procured directly from Microsoft and outside of GETS. The Office 365 cloud email service will be the common thread across all GETS fullservice agencies.
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Preparing for improvements to GETS service delivery model
Continued collaboration among GTA, GETS agencies and advisors has the Services Integration Initiative progressing. SII aims to ensure GETS IT services continue to align with Georgia agencies' evolving business needs. Status on key components is given below.
Multisourcing Service Integration (MSI) Integration sessions with the two prospective MSI providers wrapped up in October. The sessions offered a means for providers to improve their proposed solutions as they gained a clearer picture of our environment, identifying gaps in tools and services, as well as any potential overlap with existing providers. Providers raised questions and GTA responded. Providers have now submitted amended solutions, and an MSI contract is expected to be awarded in early 2015.
Managed Network Services (MNS) Initial responses to the RFP for voice and LAN/WAN services were received in early October. Clarification sessions have since been conducted with candidate MNS vendors to help fine-tune their final RFP responses. A separate RFP will soon be issued for other MNS services, such as wiring and conferencing, aimed at giving agencies expanded options and more competitive pricing. A request for qualified contractors (RFQC) was issued November 18th to identify qualified providers for those additional MNS services.
Hosted Contact Center (HCC) Agencies are making selections from the contracted HCC providers and firming up plans to transition their services by the end of the year when the current contract expires. GTA monitors progress and helps where needed to encourage continued progress toward smooth transition to new HCC service.
Individually and together, these procurements are designed to bring to state agencies IT services well suited to their business needs. Across the enterprise, Georgia gains agility required to keep pace as the IT landscape evolves.
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Eliminating barriers to access in state websites
Georgians with hearing, movement, sight and cognitive disabilities need the same access to state of Georgia websites as anyone else, and state agencies can take tangible steps to eliminate online barriers that might prevent individuals with special needs from accessing government information and services.
GTA's GeorgiaGov Interactive team focused on online accessibility at its November 12th GOVTalks workshop, the fourth in this informational series hosted by GTA.
Workshop speakers included Dr. Christopher Lee, Director of AMAC Accessibility Solutions at Georgia Institute of Technology. He and other AMAC team members described ways agencies can enhance access to their services, with emphasis on accessibility of online resources. State ADA Coordinator Mike Galifianakis opened the session by introducing AccessGA, an accessibility joint initiative involving the state's ADA Coordinator's Office, Georgia Tech's AMAC Accessibility Solutions and Research Center, and GTA.
The session also addressed:
Common etiquette and tips for promoting universal accessibility in today's inclusive work settings Hiring people with disabilities and digitally designing a work setting for everyone Tips for formatting accessible Microsoft Office and PDF documents for websites
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Georgia government tech innovations honored
At the annual Georgia Digital Government Summit in September GTA recognized outstanding IT work at the state and local government levels and announced top honors for the 2014 Technology Innovation Showcase. The Showcase is a forum for honoring successful IT initiatives, with a goal of promoting the sharing of ideas, experiences and lessons learned.
The 2014 honorees included:
DeKalb County Government - Bar Code and RFID Tracking System Department of Driver Services - Driver's License Reinstatement Integration and Modernization Department of Driver Services - Skip A Trip Department of Labor - Quick Wage System for Unemployment Insurance Tax Department of Natural Resources - Georgia Outdoor Map State Properties Commission - Space and Transaction Management Tracking System Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia - GeorgiaVIEW Brightspace Implementation
The number of projects submitted for this year's showcase more than doubled from 2013. A total of 29 projects from 17 government organizations were submitted.
The Board of Regents project went on to win an Annual State IT Recognition Award from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO). See details in the "national recognition" article in this newsletter.
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Briefly...
On October 28th in Macon, GTA hosted the Middle Georgia Digital Economy Summit, along with the Middle Georgia Regional Commission, Middle Georgia State College and the Technology Association of Georgia. Some 220 attendees - business people, community leaders, politicians, innovators, educators and students - took part in the full-day event. Presenters emphasized the potential for economic growth and change through technology and better connectivity, and encouraged participants to find ways to work together to benefit their communities.
The GETS server consolidation team logged more progress in October as it migrated a set of DOAS servers supporting the Georgia Procurement Registry application to the state's North Atlanta Data Center. The work keeps SCON momentum going as preparations continue for additional server moves at agencies including DOAS, DOR, DPH, GDC and others, near-term and into 2015.
A new disaster recovery services rate card spells out a path to additional DR coverage for GETS agencies that need it. The rate card, in simplest terms, shows GETS agencies the costs of adding DR service for additional agency applications not already part of the DR program. Questions can be emailed to GTA DR Tower Consultant Kerry Jones. Disaster recovery capability was a priority at the outset of GETS, and it remains so.
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We welcome your comments about service delivery, the state's IT transformation and related topics.
You can submit comments online or call our toll-free number to leave a recorded message.